//Ed. note: Accompanying the English in their occupation of Maraş
were Indian Moslem soldiers of the British Army. The Moslems of
Maraş interacted with these Indians with some interesting results.//
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We (Sebilü'r Reşad) asked whether there were any Indians among the
British soldiers and whether our guests had interactions with them. In
response they said:
"Of course there were. Everywhere the English go they make Indians
and others under their yoke come along to serve their interests. That's
how the English have built their empire and their power - on the backs
and head of their prisoner nations. They gather up people from Asia,
Africa and other continents as if they were animals. They hoodwink
them into thinking they are part of the empire, turning them into
drones that work for the English cause like machine parts."
"They know neither where they will be sent nor the meaning of what
they will do. Like a herd of sheep, they do what they're told,
regardless of whether their opponents are co-religionists or of the
same race. Being masters of intrigues, the English seduce these poor
souls in some way or other and persuade them to attack their co-
religionists. So these drones, their spirit and will crushed by the
English, die for the sake of their real enemy's benefit."
"What a tragic way to die - not for your own nation and homeland, not
even for your own personal honor, but, rather, on behalf of the enemy
who orders your nation around, occupies your homeland and spits on
your honor. Shouldn't we feel sorry for them? If at any point they
dare to question the reason for their duties they get a swift English
blow to the head. The English even have one of their slave nations
attack the other to punish disobedience. So these enslaved peoples
are hopeless."
"In any event, we tried our best to explain all of this to the Indian
Moslem soldiers, inviting them into our homes and conversing in
gestures since we didn't know each other's language. Ultimately,
though, we found an interpreter and were able to have conversations
with the Indian Moslems, telling them 'hey, Moslem brothers! Don't
you realize what you are doing is a great sin against your religion?!
You have left your own country and your families to spill your blood
so that infidels can rule Moslem lands. Are we your enemies, such
that you would fire on us and even die to provide an English victory?!'"
"'Look! We have mosques just like you do and 'müezzin' (prayer
callers) who read the prayers of Muhammed from the minarets the
same way yours do. We turn toward the 'kıble' (direction of Mecca),
as you do, and read, respect and venerate the Koran. For hundreds of
years, we have struggled against the infidels of the world to defend
Islam, sacrificing lives and treasure beyond counting. You can see for
yourselves the sorry state we now find ourselves in. How can you
possibly take up arms against us, your Moslem brothers, for the sake
of the infidel's victory?!'"
"As we explained all this, the Indians cried their eyes out, with their
tears falling on the English bandoliers around their waists. One of
them, regretting his armed service at the behest of English terror and
enslavement, wiped the tears from his face and said 'please, don't
reproach us. We are nothing more than animals and we are much
worse off than you are.'"
"'The tyrannical English have dragged us wherever they please, telling
us 'the Germans are the enemy of your Caliph, who is with us. You
must fight the Germans to save your Caliph.' We fought the Germans
and now we see the reality but what good does it do us? We have
committed a great sin. But we are hoping for another chance to redeem
ourselves with our blood for the crime we have committed against
Islam.'"
"Our contacts with the Indian Moslems made the English quite
uncomfortable but they did not want to openly forbid our liaisons.
Nonetheless, they did whatever they could to prevent us getting together
with their Indian Moslem soldiers. In any event, our relations with the
Indian Moslems evolved to the point where we gave them all trays of
'baklava' during the 'bayram' (Moslem religious holiday). In fact,
when the Armenians tried to create a problem between us and the
English, the Indian Moslem soldiers were ready to come over to our
side. The English sensed this and then abandoned their plans to try
to disarm us."
//END of PART TWO//
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